Caroline Davis: The Saxophone Reimagined in the Fallows

Today, we're putting The Tonearm's needle on Caroline Davis, a saxophonist and composer based in New York.

Her new album, Fallows, just came out on Ropeadope Records. Caroline made it alone during a residency in Ucross, Wyoming - improvising and recording in a cabin, using prepared saxophone techniques and a unique little instrument called an Organelle to process and build sounds she'd never put to tape before. The result is twelve tracks that use the saxophone as raw material rather than a lead voice.

We talk about how that music got made, what it means to deliberately avoid the sound of your own instrument, and Caroline's work teaching music inside Sing Sing prison.

(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from Caroline Davis’s album Fallows )

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Dig Deeper

Artist and Album

• Visit Caroline Davis at carolinedavis.org
• Purchase Caroline Davis's Fallows from Ropeadope Records, Bandcamp, or Qobuz, and listen on your streaming platform of choice

Label and Residency

• Ropeadope Records
• Ucross Foundation — the Wyoming artist residency where Fallows was recorded
• Civitella Ranieri Foundation — the Italian residency Caroline attended in 2025
• Tulu Bayar — Turkish artist who made the paper artwork for Fallows (please verify link)

Instruments and Technology

• The Organelle — Critter & Guitari — the hardware synthesizer/processor central to Fallows
• ORAC by Technobear — Patchstorage — the community-built patch framework Caroline used on the record

Collaborators, Influences, and References

• Steve Lacy — soprano saxophonist (1934–2004), honored in the track "Lacy Steve"
• Geri Allen — pianist and mentor; "Barbara Allen (for Geri)" closes the album
• Thích Nhất Hạnh — Vietnamese Buddhist monk; a sample of his voice appears on "She Know She Is Water"
• Connie Crothers — pianist from the Lennie Tristano lineage; a sample of her playing appears on "Cloudburst"
• Lee Konitz — Caroline's teacher; alto saxophonist (1927–2020)
• Sam Newsome — soprano saxophonist; prepared saxophone pioneer cited by Caroline as a major influence
• Christine Abdelnour — French experimental alto saxophonist; a formative reference for prepared saxophone technique
• Anna Webber — saxophonist and composer, cited for her work with venting vocabulary
• James Falzone — clarinetist whose solo tour performance is discussed in the episode
• Kris Davis — pianist and founder of Pyroclastic Records; cited as a touchstone for prepared piano
• Sylvie Courvoisier — pianist cited for her prepared piano work (please verify link)
• Qasim Naqvi — New York-based composer and modular synthesist; a frequent collaborator

Labels and Organizations — Current Listening

• Out of Your Head Records — Adam Hopkins's artist-run label; praised in the episode
• Pyroclastic Records — Kris Davis's artist-run label; praised in the episode

Advocacy and Justice

• Musicambia — the organization through which Caroline teaches music at Sing Sing Prison and other facilities
• FREER Records — nonprofit label for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated musicians; Caroline is on the board
• Keith LaMar — keithlamar.org — death row prisoner in Ohio whose execution is scheduled for January 13, 2027; wrongfully convicted per advocates
• Jalil Muntaqim — political prisoner (Black Panther Party) with whom Caroline corresponded; released from prison in 2020
• The New School — Jazz & Gender course — co-taught by Caroline Davis and Sarah Elizabeth Charles

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